Floating dry dock



Patented g- 3,1 3 r V 2325,607 V 2,325,6 o7 1 i .1, f noimciminocs j' n i ljrrcd f i fi-f i i m SA -fi i n bl ie tion Ausu tt pitlseirisi;3539139]. i

it v 5 Claims. (Cl." 114" 46),f :f' s t V Myjinvention refersfto-a-selfqdocking fioating 3 center sectiorijior by ,otherwiseshaping the'side dry dock and provides meanswhereby examina walls of the centersand endsections in such a. y tio'ns; sletming zind repoiirv may be safely and manner that the end sectionseare most effectively expeditiously undertaken at qthe, underside engegedqby; the. fienterflsectionn and steadied there ao f.1 i i v n 5 therebyithus increasingithe stability of thedock F 'It is genex'allyiecognizedthat's. self-docking M andn enh a ncing itscapaicityto withstand all. the dry: dock should providela structure of :great stresses irnposedunder working conditions. i continuity in docking operations; i. e. ,-ha. ve the f rAlso-hy retaining,theflfull height of the dry I smallestlnumber'of divisions possiblei joints di'yt i dock wingssfort ay'sho rt distanceat the outrigger and accessible 1anclat thefg reatest possiblerdism Ends of the "doclg, I; provide o er-waterflsupport' o r tance from. points of greatest strain; simplicity e pumpin p ant f th nd tiOmLa d th of punippontrol; a constant dock width throughsamepumpin plaht is used for-ship docking as j 'ontgfminimumfliability to accident in self-dock; Welles selfsdookin purp ses V i y mg:lgreatgstabiiity;at selirddcking and atship' Itisa si t obenoted that :hin ed Ou ri r docking operations; andouickness-of self-docklfi-Dtfiifit y a ap edboi eiswung out of the ways ing nond re assembly, sothat trequentselfsdock baokl ohthc deckoi the pontoongarej also an im-1 ings may he inexpensivelyundertaken.qy; ,1 ,"mrtantpert ofgmyginventi'on asth'is arranger i Whiiethe object loffloiititigflry docklinvestir i erit 'm bl s metou la e y s t n as cations, discussions and design for many years tion the length of which is increased in effect.

hascentered onrthe securing: ofja s'uitable selfe 2i)1 LI th dr W "J13" n V n 5 docking type,-all solutions ofthis problemheve i F ral S OWS ypre erred arrangement of l uentailed sacrifices of somejofgthe advantages of Pa s n S hre dry do k sections locked w h so do esectioo trough dock, ,1 1

In some tynesb q o pinplotesarelprovidedQ longicenter section. ;J it i t o for locking togethen the different sections, but 25 i u e? is a side 've evation" ofiimy preferred! such lockinglimits-the-seliedoeking operation to flI an htp f Y a l l absolutely oalm weatherlas it;requires great care ig 3 n eleilat ionbf "they end sec-G tope'r fectlyalign theysectionshq j 1;; i tions'; ondshowsaniontline of the; center. section r, t ncl ius p otrud n pontoon shelvesat w n d d t er o' the ends or-"s'ides of the sections. so that any 0 n n E surev' i fin slidi eva n o t -mo section mayb flry docked on the shelvesopanyj tiooia'nd shows' an outlinePotan end sectiontwooftherernaining ones; 1 pl d the intw .1- t 1-; r Stllhahothenthree sectiony dryjdock type bro, 7 Figurefi is aside elevation of my preierreddry vides overhanging wingends 1011; the center, seci" dock structure "andtshowssthsmaincenter sec-, I tionnwhich locks thetwo'end sectionsgthereto :35; tion dockedoniand between the end sections x when the dock isiassembled foxzshipt n'se,jwhile ;In the drawing: where likere ference characthe endseetions aye} providedwithlaterally 'p1'o ters designatecorresponding-warts, ladenotes my truding and; relatively low wingfwallsQbetween y prferredsectionaldrydockwhich-comprisesa together, by means ofiwing; extensions" on the V whiChjhe ccntei .seetion imaiy be slidHWhen Qthghe] relatively long center'sectionzand two end secstwo endQsectionjpontoons'are slippedi n'der the 4'0 tions 3, .s I f center section. This ingenious device, however, i The center VeetionQconipi-ises a'ipdntoon part 41 'equi'r es aniauxilia ry p umpingml ant Ior selb fend:twolside wingiwslls15 which together, form dockingandobviously a. oonside 'ableysliowidth' o solid tr ugh. dock-sectibmgAtthe iipper part i i to accommodate the laterally protruding side jof the wing walls -a safety deck 6 isTprovided walls. N n f i 45 which keeps the dock from ,being entirelyisub- Nowghow ever, I ;have.,discoyered and therein w mergeiinflhepontoon bodies of the sections are resides Ian important p a.rt of my invention, that j" i-p e biy. D OY iBd withioundeti bottoms and a all 'the adyonteges ofthe aforesaidthree-section' 1 I cent xhu y n y pha hrglwhichdivides the V type may-be retained without employing iindulyfl sectionssdaterallyl intojytwo pumping comoart- 7 Q: ,g. 5o me r'itsf-withirelatively shallow ltaper ends. This gla q b h y, PQ TPQ DY r ss thefour i "cham er wi eoivproper size, le"ngth or width. lower, comersoi themein pontoon bddy soth'at Eachend of the 'sidewalls iispreferably prog relativelylowbo 'tion gi the wing waJl's oithe vided.with tin overhanging"projecting portion,

I endfseo'tjio s inlay be slid1hthereinwhile the main which.may betheiextremities10f. a plate girder 8,

I patte e ino itwns fi sl b ndfi jth 6 aY n f he.we sect qnj and thefia rige'section' enlagrg ed side wallsn creasing the width offits wings.

' cated in Figure oilthe drawing; I

ItisLto be noted thatin my preferred device' I the. full :width .of the side walls is maintained 10, which preferably forms a continuation of the safety deck 6 and the wing wall proper. The

Webs '9 are intheplanes of the inner faces of 4 I thewalls 5.

I prefer to make theendsof the web sections ofhthe plate'girders atall times open or exposed to the sea in order not to complicate the pump control, andsuitable connections H, a few of which are shown in the drawing, are provided merely tolocktogetherthe diiferent sections of the dock.', s a l At each of the four lower corners of the center a pontoon part, 4 is a shallow recess l2 provided The end sections 3 are solid trough docksec Y tions of the same general transverse contour and construction asthe center section.

V A hinged outrigger end 13 or work platform I is preferably attached to each end section, and at the outrigger end of the sections the side walls 5 form wing towers I4, sufiicient in height, length and. width: to accommodate pump motors and val v'e operatin'g standsmot shown in the drawing;

iEash wing tower is preferably provided with a relatively high receivingplace in the form of a shoulder or shelf 15,"preferably'provid'ed with 1 thelock attachments um the locking in place of the center section at self dockin g, all as illustrated injFig ure' 5 o f-the drawing. These at- I tachments may: be devices of, any kind which can he readily engaged" or disengaged to serve the desired purposer Y The 'remaindcrsof the wing walls} oi the end sections are relatively low wing .portions' H3, and

Iuprefer to provide each lowfwing portion with a. low shelf or shoulderll, adapted to'receive and seatthe extendingwing girders 3 along "the loweredges of their extremities i'whenjthe sectionsarelocked together ion shipuse as illus'-' trated in Figural; v a All. sections are'provided withfiregular-keel locks l Kand bilge blocks. l 9, some of which are shown in the drawing and'on whichship's as w'ell' asthedifferentsections-are docked. a J The self-docking operation for them'aincenter a section is as-followsi- I 1 The dry dock is pumped'as light as possible so that the-pontoonlknuckle line 29 isiwelligout of the; water, i whereupona -the connections i l" are disengaged and the end pontoon's la, are-sunk low I enough ior the -top ol th'eir wing wall portions I l5 tojslide into the corner-recesses l2, whereupon the 'two' end sections. 3 are slipped under the ,1 bottom of the center section and locked in place by means. ofrtheconnections ll, with which the high-shelves lSare provided. This arrangement allows for a, substantial portion of'a'n end section to'belslid undertthewenter-section with the en tire flwing wall :length: thereof still above water, and; sufficient stability is attained without in- V Theendsections arenow pumped outand the center, .--section, is. raised out 'of the Water, supported by the keellblocks and balanced upon the '1 Therselfedockingoperationcompleted; the bot tom of the'center; section is open to inspection" froinhoats Icr other suitable working floats.

Y 5 l Whenan end=sectionistd be docked, it is firs't detached fromithestructure, its hinged outrigger i3 is swung back;.on the pontoon deck, and t-he main section is sunk;down,,and the end section turned crosswise is docked-in the position indi- 2,325,607 r a I throughout the entire dock for a height well above the top of the keel blocks and therefore maximum stability is at all times insured during the several docking] operations, and'only one simplest hitherto devised, as all other types require two transverse bulk heads in each end section,

jacent tofthe' junction oil the sides and bottom,

of the notches or recesses [2, adapted to receive qthe low or reduced portions iii of the side walls are under the center section (as shown in Fig. 5) the latter is mostadvantageously supported by the end section's; with'the extremities'of'webs 8 resting on the-high shoulders i5 and} with the portions le of the walls M in the recesses 52, the

weight aiz dstresses' are evenly distributed, the Q- buoyant or fting efiect of the endsections is greatest and the stability" ofthe entire structure 1-; at this time is assured The tops of the recesses 52 *cantheneither rest" directly'on the tops of the portions-l6 andLth shoulders l-Teng age immediately withfitheI-bottomofthe'seetion 2, at

between these *surfa'ces t make secure engagee 7 ment, The keei blocks ig and-other meansmay also-.beemploye'd for this-purpose. During selfdockingthe recessesdi are abovethewater line;

'In the position-"of the sections for docking a g.- ship asshown' in Fig.2 the webs 9 are received between'thesidewall portions'of reduced height of the end' secti'ons-and the lower edges of the wehs Srestusecurely-on the low shoulders it over and the :iull'added lifting effect, of the end seei tions can efiiciently'beimparted to the center on "2. ,The sections't then-lend support to h al the.main-'section"andthe vessel in the dock. The. overhanging-ends ef-the sidewalls 8 of-the mainisection-thuskeep theend sections 3 steady. .iihe iw eightlof the ship-andf'the other stresses ;are wella distributedandirnaximum stability is octained."- s

The-'1' unetion of "the re'cesses 'l E ie, very 11111301: 'tantwhen I t selfdoekingposition-as shown in Figure 5. The lower edges of the overhanginglportions of the sidewalls of 'the'c'enter section are then received andseated' uponthie upper shelves l5; "and the reduced portions l5 of thesidelwails of the sections 3 receive the 'adjacent portions of the ides oi the section-2 along-the recesses l2, to V s all intents and purposes, in-telescoping engagement. That is to say, the "topsjof the lower por- Vtio'ns as of the sidewalls Qf't-heendsectiOns-E slide into therecesses--l 2i which are'iormedat the-junction lines of the bottorn and sides of the mainsectieni The end sections can'thus;

be held steady and enabled to exert theirmaxi- Y mum -liitingeffect; and "the need'of making the p transverse bulkhead is required for the end section, the pump control of which becomes the The preseneelat theends of the; section '2, ad-

I or the sections 3 in the self-docking operation, 'g p'ermits the latter sections to have'the same i 7 cf the-high shoulder's l5 andlow shoulders ll best ei'fect. 1 Obviously, when, the end sections the '.-r.ec'esses i2; orblocks or wedges driven in some'length; the endg-sectionsare thus steadied themiddle section is to be raised to V tween the two end sections.& 5 1 n v 2. A floating dry dock includinga relatively Q} long center section having sidewalls, vtwo end]; center section, said reduced portions also having v "finterfitting engagement along theirinner faces;

andbelow their tops with 'said overhanging extremitieswhen the end sections are in line with Y it v the center section. l

end gections' wider tha t cent'er eliminated. l I

the pontoon body'lof the middle sectiononly reducethe lifting capacityxofthe dockapproxistress fora maximum ship; n

3 t It is'also of interest tovnote that besides servf 1' in; as a means for lockingithe sections together, i l

.the overhanging wing girders 8 act as guides close under and around which the tower portions havingshelves' l5 may he slid toinsure proper a clearance and alignment ofthe underwater portionsof the dry, dock sections during selfdock -ing operations. I f a n f i It is also of interest tonote Vthatin military docks'where extreme rigidity is requiredrthrough- -o'ut the undeveloped shear resistance of the shown web sections of the plate girder extensions I may be iullyl utilized in conjunction with clamp eet different conditions without departing from the scope and spirit of my invention I claim:

section is {I 5 pasaaeor It 1s to be noted t atqm'e mar nat of each of said'endsections having at its end "re-l mote tirom the fastening; means an extension portion that is hinged to the remainder-oi they mately one per cent, but this small loss-is more than offset by the accompanying reduction of =1 j *some five per cent of thelongitudinal docking end section for angular movement about a trans verse axis intola-p'osition" that shortensthelength 1- T l of the end fsecltion to adimension small enough j to fitbetweenitheside walls of the center section so that the end sections whenturnedfsicleways can be 1 (locked "in the center section.

, 13. A floating dry dock comprising'ia center'sec- H tion, an end sectionfor' each end thereof, the,

center sectionhaving jside walls-with overhanging; end extremities; the end sections havingside n walls with portions of reduced height,. said porp tions eachhaving a shoulder along-each inner {said overhanging extremities when the end's'ec-J, I tions-fare in line with the centerzsection; the d;

remaining portions oi the sideiwalls of the end I sections each having a shoulder along each inner" 'face spaced below the top} and higher than the first na e shoulderto receive andfseat said I I I overhanginggext-remities when the endlsection's f Lil connectionsadapted to resistdirect tension and compression, and when such clamp connections g are used Iprefer toflplace theni at the pontoon 7 deck level where they are readily accessible. I .I' do not want to be understood as limitin gin y" claims; to the apparatusshown as it is manifest that alterations maybe made my deviceto face spaced below the top to receive and seat are underthe centersectioni a L f 4. A floating dry dock comprising a center sect l n tiongan 'endfsectionfor eachjend thereof, the

center section having side walls with overhang-n 1 3 ing end extremities,,the end sectionsalso having {side walls with portions of reduced height, said 1 portions each having a low"shou1der along each tions including" a relativelyjlong center section "with side walls, with a deck between the: side walls, and with recessed corners in-its pontoon .portion, said recessed corners being atleast parl tially above theano-load waterline of the center section :but substantially 1 bel0w the level of said deck,jend sections of the same general'transverse contour as thefcenterrsection and short enough; I t ."to be dockedinside ofjthe center section, disengageable. means for rigidly securing the sec- 1 tionstogether when docking a vesseLand side walls oneachrot the end'sections; said sidewalls; being offull height at the outer end of the end 1 sections and being of reduced height for a substantial distance from the inner end of each end; f section for sliding into the recessed corners of thecenter sectionwith the fulllengthio fthe side ,wallsf above water tostabilizethe end sections I when" a" substantial portion'ofthe side walls thereof is slid into said recessed corners and under the center'section, prior torthe raising of thecenter sectionout of the water, on and hesections shorterthan the centersection, anddisengageable fastening means for rigidly [securing inner-face below the top, the remainder of the i e walls of the end sections each having a, shoulder along each inner face below the top wand higher than the"firstnamedshoulder, the

end sections, when in line withkthe center sec =tion, receiving and seating :saidextremities on i said 'lowlshoulders; and when in position beneath the centersection receiving and seating said overhanging extremities on said high shoulders,

while the'low shoulders engage withthe ends of the cent'ersection along cent to the sides thereof; 1

thetop for said overhangingextremities when "the end sections-are underjthe center section, l said side walls; also having portions of reduced height for simultaneously receiving between 1 themthe adjacent portions of 'the s ides of the 1 thebottom and adja 5. A fioating dry dock comprising a center sect tion, an; end section for each end-thereof, the over-all width of all said sectionsbeing the same,

the center section having" side walls with over-- L-hanging end extremities of reduced thickness flush with theinner faces of the side'wallsjthe end sections also-having sidewalls each of which has a high shoulder along each inner face below ER D' IQ R; HARRISQ 

